Spirituality in Bali is a systematic spirituality, a spiritual methodology consisting of several components that are interconnected with one another. The spiritual teachings in Bali are not only about human and God, but concerning other human beings, even concerning nature and all creation.All of that then makes Balinese spiritual teachings one of the most unique, complete and profound teachings that do not “separate” humans with their lives in the spiritual name, but mix people with their lives.
Many spiritual teachings teach the importance of avoiding even abandoning “earthly life” in order to achieve what is believed to be enlightenment. Dedicate yourself to doing yoga or puja and forget all other things. But it is not like that in Bali, its spiritual teachings that are very systematic with beautiful structures that teach us to live according to the stage of our natural human development. Ranging from demanding knowledge, family, until in time then just release all the earthly bonds.
Worldliness is not seen as “low” in the spirituality of Bali. On the contrary, the fulfillment and the attainment of worldly or material desires is a stage in life that needs to be lived, but all of the process lead by a meditative attitude that brings to higher spiritual awareness (moksha). This “down-to-earth” spiritual system aims to lead to worldly happiness and increased spiritual consciousness.
The attainment of worldly/material desires and spiritual consciousness are not two separate and contradictory things, but mutually supportive of one another. As human beings, our life in this world is with both of those element but the effort and the results of worldly happiness is visible . Humans can live happily while on earth either happy with himself, harmonious with his fellow human beings and of course with nature which is ” home “of our lives while in the world.
And one of the teachings that can help us be happy while in this world is through harmony. The harmony between you and the creator, the harmony between you and your fellow humans and the harmony between you and nature. You will not be able to live happily as long as you are not harmonious with other human beings, because how can you be happy if wherever you go there is hate and hostile to you, how can you be happy if you always hate and host others. Then how can you live happily if nature is damaged? If floods occur everywhere due to untreated rivers, if landslide due to deforested forest and other forms of natural destruction.
This ancestor teachings can be a very meaningful grip in living a dynamics life as modern humans, especially because so many problems that occur today both at the personal level and in the global level is due to lack of harmony.
Your disharmony with colleagues indirectly (consciously or unconsciously) will affect your work performance, your lack of harmony with business partners will affect your business performance, the lack of harmony between you and the customer will make them dissatisfied, and other examples such as in the family environment, workplace, social community, state life and even globally. Moreover, humans who are not only personal beings but also social beings, their need on harmonious relationships with other humans have been firmly planted in the human brain from primitive ages, that has become one of the fundamental needs in the human reptile brain. Inevitably, if you are socially not experiencing harmony (both with your partner, family, work environment and other social settings), then you will personally feel not calm and ultimately will spread to various other things.
Then, the harmonious relationship with “God” is the foundation of the achievement of all other harmony, if you realize that in everyone there is God, then you will respect everyone, and with you realize that in every element of nature is the throne of God, it will be sacred and honored in such a way, for all that exists is the embodiment of God.
Imagine how wonderful life on earth is if every human being is able to see another human being as a manifestation of God, imagine that nature will remain with its beauty and wholeness if man realizes that all is God.
In Bali, the awareness about all is God is done not only by philosophy but also with the dynamic expression of various rituals and highly structured metaphysical experiments that principally teach that in man (within you and in every other human being) there is God, as if to make the human body as his sacred temple.
Balinese spiritual teachings then make it as a “Grounded” doctrine, not just about the teachings of “Above” but how we can live harmoniously with all the inhabitants of the earth and even with the earth itself. The spiritual doctrine that makes human beings more human, not just like a god to the point of forgetting that the foot is still stepping on the ground, forgetting that it still lives on earth with other humans, and of course still need other human and earth, both for personal and spiritual growth . And it is unfortunate that this very “down-to-earth” spiritual doctrine, simple but profoundly needed by modern humans, is abandoned for various reasons, simply because not many have explored how all the values of the sublime life of this Balinese spirituality can greatly help the human life of the present, both personally and globally.
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